Photographers

Ed Kashi

BIOGRAPHY

Ed Kashi is a photojournalist, filmmaker and educator dedicated to documenting the social and political issues that define our times. A sensitive eye and an intimate relationship to his subjects are the signatures of his work. Kashi’s complex imagery has been recognized for its compelling rendering of the human condition.

Kashi’s images have been published and exhibited worldwide. His innovative approach to photography and filmmaking produced the Iraqi Kurdistan Flipbook. Using stills in a moving image format, this creative and thought-provoking form of visual storytelling has been shown in many film festivals and as part of a series of exhibitions on the Iraq War at The George Eastman House. Also, an eight-year personal project completed in 2003, Aging in America: The Years Ahead, created a traveling exhibition, an award-winning documentary film, a website and a book that was named one of the best photo books of 2003 by American Photo.

Along with numerous awards, including honors from Pictures of the Year International, World Press Photo, Communication Arts and American Photography, Kashi’s editorial assignments and personal projects have generated six books. In 2008, Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta was published. June 2009 saw the publication of THREE, based on a series of triptychs culled from more than 20 years of image making.

In 2002, Kashi and his wife, writer / filmmaker Julie Winokur, founded Talking Eyes Media. The non-profit company has produced numerous short films and multimedia pieces that explore significant social issues. The first project resulted in a book and traveling exhibition on uninsured Americans called, Denied: The Crisis of America’s Uninsured.

Saigon's traffic police, always unflappable, are having to adapt to the massive increase of motorbike traffic in the city, cause of terrible smog and congestion. 1994. Inquire about this image

More smoke and a handkerchief present a contrast in methods of dealing with traffic congestion and smog. 1994. Inquire about this image

Motorbike cruising has become the number one activity of Saigon's youth, especially as there is little else for the cash poor youth to do. 1994.Inquire about this image

In what is almost a daily scene, a funeral procession wheels through the city on route to a cemetery on the outskirts of town. 1994.Inquire about this image

Except for the motorbike, these traditionally dressed women could be from another era of Saigon's stylish past. 1994.Inquire about this image

SAIGON ON WHEELS

May 30 – August 18 2013

With the turn of a wheel, Saigon had become like Bangkok a decade earlier: filled with the incessant rattling of motorbike traffic. In just two years, the number of motorbike licenses in the city had skyrocketed from 40,000 to nearly 900,000. Saigon’s motorbike craze was on the leading edge of the economic revolution sweeping through Vietnam in the early 1990’s. It rejuvenated what had been a sleepy and backward state-run city into a bustling and colorful free-market where activity had returned to pre-1975 levels. With increased foreign investment, new construction and new jobs, there was an air of hope that fifteen years of economic stagnation was over.

This explosion of energy and excitement is the perfect metaphor for Vietnam. The tension caused by years of economic and social suppression had finally snapped and the recoil produced a new motto, song voi, or “living fast.” Saigon’s streets are a constant circus of swirling movement. Girls in party dresses and guys in their Sunday best pass whole families on a single scooter. Virtually every aspect of daily life is played out in the commotion of the streets.

Ed Kashi

A sensitive eye and an intimate relationship to his subjects are the signatures of Ed Kashi’s work. His complex imagery has been recognized internationally for its compelling rendering of the human condition. This 2010 exhibition explored Kashi’s dedication to documenting the social and political issues that define our times.

“I take on issues that stir my passions about the state of humanity and our world, and I deeply believe in the power of still images to change people’s minds,” he says. “I’m driven by this fact: that the work of photojournalists and documentary photographers can have a positive impact on the world. The access people give to their lives is precious as well as imperative for this important work to get done. Their openness brings with it a tremendous sense of responsibility to tell the truth but to also honor their stories.”

The ornate Sayyida Zaynab Mosque in Damascus attracts Shia worshippers from all over the world. Syria, May 2008.Inquire about this image

Just outside the hill town of Muree, in the foothills of the Himalayas and overlooking Islamabad and Rawalpindi, students line up on the roof of the Hira School, a privately run religious school with the motto, "Education in Koran and Computer, side by side." Pakistan, December 2009.Inquire about this image

Dusk settles around the ancient Byzantine church ruins in the town of Taybeh, the only completely Christian town left in the West Bank. July 2008.Inquire about this image

The ancient monastery at Der Mar Musa, once a Roman citadel, then a hideout for Christians fleeing persecution and now a center of interfaith beliefs, in the mountains of Syria. May 2008.Inquire about this image

Young Syrians of different traditions pass each other on the steps of Aleppo's Citadel. Syria, October 2008.Inquire about this image

Saudi tourists take in the sights overlooking Damascus and drink beer at a cafe on Mt. Kassion. Syria, May 1995.Inquire about this image

A worker cleans an oil spill from an abandoned Shell Petroleum Development Company well in Oloibiri, Niger Delta. Nigeria, July 2004.Inquire about this image

A boy carries the freshly killed carcass of a goat at the Trans Amadi Slaughter, which is the largest abatoir in the Niger Delta. Nigeria, June 2006.Inquire about this image

A young woman walks along the pipelines that bisect the town of Okrika, a troubled area near Port Harcourt that has oil, refineries, pipelines, and violence. Nigeria, June 2006.Inquire about this image